Three days after the **Starfire Trial**, **Aurehaven**'s **Celestine Academy** had become a powder keg. Outer disciples wore **Luminarie Badges** like war trophies. Inner elders argued behind sealed doors. And every courier in the city carried the same sealed scroll:
> **"Elias Varnholt—Anomaly. Observe. Do not engage."**
> —Signed: **The Seven Realms' Accord**
Elias didn't care. He sat cross-legged on the roof of the **Stellar Forge**, a crumbling dormitory reserved for "problem talents." Nine **Luminarie Orbs** spun lazily above his head, casting starlight on his patched cloak.
*Starfire essence: 12% refined.*
*Starfang Edge: 37% attuned.*
*Next bottleneck: Core Formation.*
He needed resources. Rare ones. The kind that didn't grow in academy greenhouses.
A shadow fell over him. **Liora Valcrest**, silver hair braided with **Moonsteel Thread**, tossed a crimson invitation at his feet.
"**Crimson Lotus Auction**. Tonight. Black-market wing. If you want to breakthrough before the **Stellar War**, you'll need what's inside." She paused. "Also, Cassian Holt will be there. With his uncle."
Elias caught the card. Embossed in blood-gold: **Lot 77 – Fragment of the Primordial Ember**.
His ember *screamed* in his chest.
---
The auction house floated above **Aurehaven**'s **Midnight Canal**—a black jade pagoda suspended by **Void Leviathan** chains. Entry required a drop of blood and a secret.
Elias arrived in a hooded cloak stolen from the Forge's laundry. Liora slipped in separately, disguised as a veiled noblewoman.
Inside, the air reeked of **Draconic Incense** and desperation. Bidders wore masks: phoenixes, dragons, cracked skulls.
**Cassian Holt** lounged in a private booth, flanked by **Lord Baldwin Holt**, a Core Formation peak cultivator whose rings glowed with **Spatial Laws**. Cassian's eyes locked on Elias instantly.
*He recognizes the ember.*
The auctioneer—a woman with **Siren Blood**—slammed a gavel of frozen starlight.
"Lot 73: **Voidstep Boots**, forged from a fallen meteor. Starts at 10,000 spirit crystals!"
Elias ignored it. His gaze fixed on the sealed crystal case being wheeled out for **Lot 77**.
The **Primordial Ember Fragment** pulsed like a dying heart. The same energy that had saved him in Emberfall. The same energy the obelisk had *stolen* from him.
"Starting bid: 50,000 crystals. Or equivalent treasures."
Cassian stood. "100,000. And the **Holt Syndicate** offers protection to any who withdraw."
Silence. Even the Siren auctioneer faltered.
Elias stood. "I bid one **Perfected Nine-Orbit Star Pill**."
Gasps. A pill that could push a Core Formation cultivator to **Nascent Soul**? Worth *millions*.
Lord Baldwin's eyes narrowed. "Boy. That pill is fake. You're the Emberfall rat. Surrender the fragment's twin in your soul, and we'll let you leave with your limbs."
Starfang Edge hummed on Elias's back, eager.
Liora's voice cut through, cold: "Valcrest Duchy bids **two** Star Pills. And a favor from **Duke Alaric**."
The room froze. A ducal favor could topple kingdoms.
Cassian snarled. "You dare—"
The auctioneer smiled. "Going once—"
A **spatial tear** ripped open above the stage. A black-robed figure from the Jade Spire dropped through, landing beside the case. The same thief who'd stolen the obelisk shard.
"**Nightshade Consortium** claims this lot by **Right of Anomaly**." His mask was a void. "The fragment belongs to the **True Inheritor**."
He crushed a **Void Talisman**. The case vanished with him.
Chaos.
Lord Baldwin roared. **Spatial Rings** flashed—dozens of Holt guards teleported in, swords drawn. Liora's veil dropped; **Moonsteel Threads** lashed out like silver serpents.
Elias didn't hesitate. He vaulted over the railing, Starfang Edge igniting.
*Starfire Step—First Luminary.*
He blurred through the melee, a comet among fireflies. One guard's sword melted on contact. Another's armor crystallized into **Starblood Glass**.
He reached the stage as the spatial tear began to close.
Cassian blocked him, **Meteor Lance** blazing. "You're *mine*."
Their weapons clashed. The impact birthed a **micro-star** that exploded, shredding half the pagoda.
Elias tasted blood. *He's stronger than the projection.*
But the ember whispered: **"Use the pill tribulation."**
Elias spat the **Nine-Orbit Star Pill**—not to consume, but to *detonate*. Nine rings expanded into a **Calamity Domain**. Thunderflame, Frostflame, Soulflame—everything he'd tamed in the trial—erupted.
Cassian screamed as his lance shattered. Lord Baldwin teleported in, palm striking Elias's chest.
**Crack.** Three ribs. Blood in his mouth.
But the ember *drank* the pain. Converted it.
Elias grabbed Baldwin's wrist. "Alchemy isn't just pills. It's *refining the world*."
He *inhaled*. Baldwin's **Core Formation aura** flowed into Elias like a river—compressed, purified, stored in the **First Luminary Orb**.
Baldwin staggered, pale. "You… stole my cultivation?"
"Borrowed," Elias coughed. "With interest."
The spatial tear flickered. Elias dove through.
---
He landed in a cavern of black crystal, deep beneath Aurehaven. The Nightshade thief waited, unmasked.
**A girl.** Sixteen. Amber eyes. A scar shaped like a star over her heart.
"You're late," she said. "I'm **Mira Ashford**. Your *sister* in the ember."
She tossed him the **Primordial Ember Fragment**. It merged with his starheart instantly.
**Core Formation—achieved.**
Nine Luminarie Orbs fused into a single **Corona Crown** above his brow.
Mira smiled. "The Holt Syndicate, the Valcrest Duchy, the **Seven Realms**—they all want the **Nine Luminaries Sky-Rending Codex**. But only *we* can finish what Emperor Aurelius started."
Elias gripped Starfang Edge. The blade now bore nine empty sockets—one glowing.
"What's the price?" he asked.
Mira's scar pulsed. "Find the other eight fragments. Kill the **Star Eater** that shattered the Codex. And when the final star falls…"
She leaned close. "…we burn the heavens together."
Above, the pagoda collapsed into the canal. Sirens wailed. Liora Valcrest stood on a broken beam, silver hair whipping in the wind, staring at the cavern's entrance.
Cassian Holt knelt in the rubble, clutching his ruined arm. Lord Baldwin's eyes promised death.
Elias looked at Mira. "When do we start?"
"Now."